As is well known in the art, handguns, e.g., pistols, come in a variety of manufactured sizes, e.g., some referred to as full-size, compact and sub-compact. A magazine containing rounds of ammunition is inserted in a magazine well formed in the grip of the pistol. Magazines are manufactured in different sizes in accordance with the size of the handgun as well as in accordance to the number of rounds that the magazine holds, such that the floor plate of the magazine is generally flush with the bottom of the grip. Accordingly, the standard magazine manufactured for the full-size pistol is longer and holds more rounds than the magazine for the compact model, and of course even longer and with even more rounds than the one for the sub-compact model.
Although a full-size magazine may be inserted in the grip of a sub-compact pistol, it is neither aesthetically pleasing nor is it comfortable in the shooter's hand, because a gap exists between the bottom of the grip down to the floor plate of the magazine.
Grip extenders have been developed to fill in this gap in an effort to solve the aesthetics and comfort problems. For example, the Pearce Grip Company (Fort Worth, Tex.) makes different lines of grip extenders for use with different manufacturers of handguns, such as Springfield Armory XD, Beretta or Glock. In order to install these grip extenders, the floor plate of the magazine must be removed (requiring tools). The magazine is then retrofitted with the grip extender, which comes with its own floor plate, or the old floor plate is attached to the grip extender (again requiring tools). Some of the grip extenders maintain some, but not all, of the contour and feel of the manufactured grip, such as the Pearce grip extenders for some of the Glock models, which have a front strap that resembles the front strap of the Glock grip. However, these grip extenders do not maintain the rear contour of the grip and do not have the features of the back strap of the grip.